Today, I come to you with yet another Sample and Share only this time – it’s for ACTIVEWEAR!
Who better to Sample and Share Activewear with than a running buddy?

After our usual Saturday morning run/post-run breakfast, Kelli and I began our Activewear quest at Old Navy!

We each received an Activewear top and bottom! One for me, one for her! Yay!

Before I talk about our experience on Saturday, I want to share my prior experience with Old Navy Activewear. ’m a runner (obviously) and I’ve been running for about 3 years now. When I first began running and marathon training, I took to Old Navy for my Activewear clothing. Although my pieces of clothing have expanded over time, I still wear mostly Old Navy Activewear clothing when I run. I love their Sports Bras and shorts. On an everyday run, I usually have at least one piece of Old Navy Activewear on my body!

Ok – now on to the Sample and Share! :0)

We discussed our game plan ahead of time and decided that we both wanted a long sleeved top and tights. The selection for long sleeved tops in our Old Navy wasn’t that great, but then again, it’s Southwest Louisiana. Hello – it doesn’t get that cold very often!

Even though the selection wasn’t great, we each found a top that we fell in LOVE with! These are zippered jacket type tops. They are incredibly comfortable AND they have thumbholes! I’m always a stickler for a long sleeved top with thumbholes! :0)

We also each found a pair or tights/pants that we loved. Mine are grey capris and Kelli’s are long black tights. I ended up purchasing this dark purple top as well! Love it!

However, my favorite piece of the day was the light purple zip jacket. I absolutely love it and can’t wait to wear it!

Thank you Crowdtap and Old Navy for this awesome opportunity! Kelli says thank you as well! :0)
Do YOU want to partake in all the fun?

With the WDW Marathon Weekend approaching (and our next vacation), I figured it was time to finish up our New York/Canada recap!

On Saturday morning, my family hopped a cab to the 911 Memorial. I reserved tickets online ahead of time so we were able to bypass the initial ticket line! Yay!

It was foggy and rainy outside…yuck! This is the new tower currently undergoing construction.

After walking through the ticket line, we made our way through security which is similar to airport security. I took a picture of something right past security…which is still not allowed…and I kind of got in trouble with a police officer. Whoops. Sorry. And yes, that’s the second time that’s happened to me…once at Port Canaveral (a few years ago) and once at the 911 Memorial. Oddly enough, the guy at the 911 Memorial was WAY nicer than the DISNEY security guy at Port Canaveral. Hello.

Ok I got sidetracked…whoops. Moving on…

This tree has a pretty crazy story! It survived the attack on the Twin Towers and still stands today (after much TLC).

The memorial was very sad and humbling…a very quite and reflective place.

We knew the name of a guy from our hometown who perished in the attack, so we found his name on the computer screen, then found it on the memorial. The computer has an alphabetical list of every name on the memorial with the coordinates to where their name is located.

After walking around for about an hour, we decided to check out the Chapel that also survived the attack…only, we went to the wrong Chapel (but that’s ok because this one was beautiful)!

Trinity Church

The graveyard was filled with OLD and I mean OLD graves. I’m a history nerd so this interested me.

From the War of 1812

The inside of this church was AMAZING. Absolutely gorgeous!

Once we realized we weren’t in the correct place, we began walking. On our way, we passed Wall Street!

We finally found St. Paul’s Chapel. If you haven’t heard of this place, Google it.

Only one windowpane was broken in the Chapel during the attacks – and look at its close proximity to the area where the towers stood!

This Chapel also served as a haven for rescue workers after the attack.

The story about the boots made me sad.

Actually, a lot of the things we saw that morning made me sad…

The inside of the church (which also holds a lot of history back to George Washington’s day) became a “People’s Memorial”.

The story of this troop is very touching.

By the time we finished walking through St. Paul’s, we were starving. Lucky for us, the Double Decker Bus Tour route was nearby. We decided to stop at Seaport and grab a bite to eat.

None of us had ever eaten at Johnny Rockets so that was the obvious choice!

VERY good Philly Cheesesteak sandwich…and of course I got a milkshake!

After lunch, we walked around through the Seaport mall where I found this amazing Christmas store! Definitely my heaven!!

Behind the mall is an awesome view of the Brooklyn Bridge!

We took a few pictures at the bridges, then decided to continue our tour of Downtown. Once the Downtown loop was over, we switched busses and also took a tour of Uptown Manhattan!

Our view from the top of a Double Decker Bus!

This scene reminded me of the Streets of America in Disney’s Hollywood Studios! :0)

The Uptown Tour bus was not near as crowded as the Downtown Tour Bus. It was nice to have a break away from all the noise!

At one of the stops, these people came up to the bus and sold bottles of water and cold drinks. There was a bucket on the end of the pole full of bottled water! Hah!

Our Uptown tour also took us through Harlem which was really neat to see!

Central Park.

Do you see the rain clouds? Yep, we had to wear ponchos at one point! Crazy storms came through the area – after it passed, we read stories of several tornados that touched down not far from us! Really scary!

Aaaaaaand if we didn’t have enough of bus tours already, Jason and I decided to switch busses yet again for the nighttime tour. The nighttime tour took us through Brooklyn with awesome views of the New York skyline at night!

Our night time bus tour began in Times Square!

It was fashion week, so this building had nifty different color lights on top!

This is the best shot I was able to get of the New York Skyline from Brooklyn. The bus sure was bouncy which makes for blurry pictures!

Overall, we loved the tour and recommend it to everyone, especially if you’ve never been to New York and don’t know your way around!

After the tour, we were EXHAUSTED. We also had an early day the following morning so we finished packing, then went to sleep!

Sunday morning came EARLY. We boarded this crazy nasty 18 passenger van (which was not worth the amount of money we paid per person, thank you) and headed to the airport.

Wildlife inside the airport!

I’ve never eaten at Dunkin Donuts before so of course I had to have a donut! Hehe!

Our plane left a little late because crazy people wouldn’t SIT DOWN. The captain finally had to come over the intercom and tell them to be considerate of everyone’s time and please SIT DOWN. I was livid. Our connection in Houston was only 45 minutes so we were cutting it close. I am NOT a fan of connecting flights…if I can fly direct, I do. Obviously a direct flight was not an option for this trip. As soon as we landed in Houston, I took off for the next terminal. I had to haul booty, but I made it. Jason’s parents were about 5 minutes behind us, but they made it too. We sat down on the plane with minutes to spare! Whew.

What a crazy way to end a crazy whirlwind 10 day vacation!

Overall, I LOVED Canada and want to go back! New York, I liked – but I needed to recuperate from the noise once I got home. I like peace and quiet and that’s not readily available in New York City. Also if I go back to New York, I’d love to go with someone who’s been before, because I felt very “out of my element” and I don’t like not knowing my way around.

Thanks for following along with my trip recap…I know it took a long time for me to get it all out! Hope you enjoyed hearing about it as much as I enjoyed going! :0)

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

I know I say this every year, but I really dislike the day after Christmas. This year, I still have a few Christmas festivities to look forward to, but there’s just something about December 26th. I think it’s because I build up anticipation for Christmas Day all year, then it’s here, and before I know it – it’s gone.

This Brad Paisley song describes exactly how I feel….

I’ve had an amazing holiday and I will cherish the memories we made for many years to come!

We began the day by opening presents at our house…

…Santa even remembered the puppies….

Around noon, my parent’s/grandpaw/us drove to my brother and sister in law’s house in Texas for lunch!

WAY too much food for 7 people!

Yes I am 30 years old and YES, Santa still fills my stocking each year! :0)

After dinner we exchanged gifts, then played a game of Disney Cranium.

This game is not easy, I tell you!!

I laughed so much, my stomach hurt!

My goofball family…gotta love them!

I hope you all had a day filled with as much love and laughter as mine was!! :0)

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Hi! Welcome to Just Me & My Running Shoes! My name is Karen, I am a 30 year old runner, Disney lover, & Oncology Nurse. I am passionate about volunteering, fitness, traveling, and living an overall healthy lifestyle. Want to contact me? I can be reached at:kren2700@gmail.com.Have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by!